Airship



y D. F. BROWN.

AIRSHIP.V

HPPLICATION F|LED JUNEZZ, 1920. ,gg-174,487, Patented Apr. l12, 1921.

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511 vantoz D. F. BROWN.

AIRSHIP.

APPLICATION FILED IuNE 22.1920.

1,374,487. Patented 1p1., 12, 1921.

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annu/1to1 D. FLBROWN.

AIRSHIP.

APPLICATION FILED, JUNE 22,1920.

D. F. BROWN.

AIRSHIP.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 22, 1920.

i 5 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

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@Home/13o Patented Apr. 12, 1921.

D. F. BROWN.

'AIRSH|P..

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 22, i920.

1,374,487', Patented Apr. 12, 1921.

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OFFICE.

DAVID FRANK BROWN, 0F BOUNDBROOK, NEW JERSEY.

' AIRSHIP.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed June 22, 1320. Serial No. 390,823.

To all whom t may cof/mera: v

Be it known that I, DAVID F. BROWN al axes and relative to the planes on which l they are mounted so as to control the speed of rotation of the planes about the central car and also control the direction of flight.

Another object is to provide an airsliip inwhich the adjustment of the motors relative to the planes on which they are'mounted can be effected by an operator located within the central car.

A still further object is to provide an individual car for each motor adapted not only to house the motor but also to hold an attendant.

A still further object is to provide the car with a floor section adapted to be rotatedina direction opposite to the direction of rotation of the car and its radial plane so that, if desired, the occupant of the central car can maintain a fixed position relative to the points of the compass.

With the foregoing and other objects` in View, which will appear as the description proceeds, the invention resides in the com bination and arrangementof-parts and in the details of construction hereinafter described and claimed, it being understood that, within the scope of what isclaime'd. changes in the precise embodiment of the invention shown can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention.

In the accompanying drawings the preferred form of the invention has been shown.

In said drawings-- i Figure 1 is a perspective view of the airship Viewed from beneath. A

Fig. is a transverse section through two sustaining' planes and showing therebetween one of the motor carrying gondolas.

Fig. 3 is a transverse section through the gondola. 1

Fig. 4 is a longitudinal section through the central car of the airship. ig. .5 is a view partly in plan and partly inv section of a portion of the airsliip and showing the relative positions of the wings, the central car, and the'- connecting plat# forms, the reinforcing braces and other structural details being removed.

Fig. 6 is a bottom plan view of the pedestal of the machine.

Fig. 7 is a section therethrough.

Referring to the figures bycharacters of reference 1 designates a triangular centralA fstructure which can be suitably reinforced and is rigid throughout, this structure being built around a central car 2- adapted to contain the operator and the various controlling instruments and mechanism used by him. Extending radially from the angle portions of the triangular4 structure 1 are superposed'sustaining-planes 3 held prop# erly spaced bystruts' 4 these planes'being preferably in line with the upper and lower members' of the triangular structure and. properly' which members are ,also held spaced by struts such as shown at 6.. As shown the planes 43 can be provided with suitably arranged stay wires 7 or the like, the upper wires extending to a circular connecting ring 8 supported above the triangular structure l by standards 9 and the said upper stay wires radiating from this ring to the upper sustaining plane as shown.

Arranged under the triangular structure is a pedestal consisting of connected upper and lower rings 10 concentric with the ver- 'tical center of the airship and said lower rings being mounted on Aantifriction bearings 11 carried by a'base 12. A king bolt 13 connects the centers of the ring 10 and -the base 12. Thus it will be seen that when Patented A131312, 1921.

the base is on the ground the entire airship i can rotate Athereon about the king bolt 13 at the center thereby making-it possible to'obtain a velocity sufficient to 'cause the vplanes 3 to lift the entire machine from the ground. This'base l2 is also advantageous because when; the machine is rotating, as

.hereinafter explained, to allow it to be lowiered while'under control of the driver, the

liov

. basev will iirst contact withthe ground and `relative to the strips 17 because of hinge connections such as shown at 18. Each gondola is provided with a motor 19 for driving a vpropeller 20 located at thel front end of the gondola. and suiiicient room is provided in the gondola to accommodate one or more attendants whose business it isl to look after the engine and adjacent portions of the airship. T'he .lower spindle of each gondola is provided with an antifriction bearing 21 and also with a sheave 22. Mounted on this sheave is an endless belt 23 extending to one of a series of sheaves 24 mounted on avertical shaft 25 journaled in the car 2. Worm gearing indicated generally at 26 is yprovided for rotating the shaft 25 and can be operated by a hand wheel 27. One sheave or pulley 24 is provided for each gondola and it will be obvious that by rotating the hand wheel 27 all ofthe gondolas will be rotated simultaneously relative to the planes 3 between which they are mounted. Under normal conditions the gondolas are arranged so as to follow each other in a circle, the

, propellers exerting apull at tangents to said circle. By means of. the hand wheel 27 however, the said gondolas can be shifted so as to pull along parallel lines, thus causing the machine to move forwardly without ro-n tating. By gradually shifting the gondolas out of parallel their directions of pull will be such as to cause the machine to rotate bodily with the center of the car 2 as an axis and thespeed of rotation will increase until the gondolas are all shifted to the position first mentioned whereinthey all pull along lines tangent to the same circle.

In addition to the means employed for shifting the gondolas, an additional shaft 28 may be mounted in the car 2 and operated through worm gearing 29 from a hand wheel 30. This mechanism may be used for driving belts 31 whereby the sustaining planes can be tilted about longitudinal axes for the purpose of changing the angle of incidence, thereby to control vthe flight of the machine. The specific means for imparting rocking movement to the planes when the belts 31 are actuated is a matter of mechanical detail and. need not be described specifically.v

i mechanism under the control of a pulley 39 adapted to be operated by a belt 40 extending from a pulley 41 secured to a shaft 42 which is journaled in the lower portion of. the shaft 34 and is adaptedto be operated by suitable mechanismunder the control. of a hand wheel 43. Thus the operator by actuating the wheel 43 can transmit motion to the pulley 39 and thereby control the speed of the motor by the use 'of any well known brake mechanism providedfor thatpurpose. f 'l Tail planes 44 can be connected to the back end of one pair of sustaining planes 3 and are adapted to be operated by the occupant of the car 2, thus to control the directionof fli ht.

As heretofore pointed out the machine, when at rest, stands upon the pedestal 10 bearing on the base 12 contacting with the 95 ground. The gondolas 14 are shifted to positions at right angles to the longitudinal axes of the planes 3 and the motors are set in motion. The propellers will thus act to rotate the entire machine about its vertical center until the velocity obtained becomes suicient to lift the machine bodily from the ground. As soon as this velocity has been obtained the operator tilts the planes 3 which will immediately displace air downwardly and the entire machine will thus operate as a helicopter and cause the machine to travel vertically. The machine will rise to the desired altitude and duringthe rotation of the machine the motor 38 will drive 110 the floor section 33 in a direction opposite to the direction of rotation of the .planes 3 so that the occupant of the floor section 33 can maintain a fixed position relative to the points of the compass, if so desired.k By manipulating .the'hand wheels 27 and 30 the positions of the gondolas can be changed at will and the tiltable planes 3 can be ad- Justed. Thus when the machine reaches its proper altitude the rotation of the planes l can be stopped, said planes canv be tilted to desired angles, andv all of the propellers can be caused to pull the machine forwardly so that said machine will operate as an ordi-v nary aeroplane. While the machine is traveling in this manner its ight can be controlled by manipulating theftail planes 44.

It will be noted that by providing a machine such as described it will be possible yto hover over a fixed point, to ascend orr de- 1361- scend vertically, and to glide forwardly from a fixed point after the manner of an aeroplane.

In theillustrations forming a part of this application no attempt has been made to show some o f the various mechanical details as the drawings are more in the nature of diagrams for illustrating the features o f construction and operation, constituting the present invention.

What is claimed isz" l. In an airship a plurality of radially extending planes,l a motor propelled propeller movable with, each .of the planes, said propellers being driven simultaneously to swing the planes about a common center, and means for shifting the propellers relative to the planes to vvary the speed of rotation of the planes about said center and to propel the machine forward bodily.

2. In an airship the combination with radially extending planes, of motor driven propellers carried by fthe planes, means under the control of an operatorf'or simultaneously shifting the propellers relative to the planes thereby to move the planes in a circle about a common center or to move the machine bodily in a forward direction.

'trol of one operator for simultaneously yadjusting all of the motors angularly relative to the planes, said propellers operating to drive the planes about a common center or to propel the machine 'bodily in a forward direction.

4. An airship including radially extending pairs of superposed planes mounted for tilting, a motor interposed between the planes of each pair, a propeller driven by eachmotor, means under the control of a single operator for simultaneously shifting all of the motors to vary the direction of pull ofthe propellersrelative to the planes,

thereby to drive the planes about a central axis or to move the machine bodily in a forward direction.

lposite to the direction of rotation of the central structure.

In testimony that I claim .the foregoing as my own, I have hereto aiixed my signa-A ture in the presence of' two witnesses.

DAVID FRANK BROWN.

VVitnessejs: Y i i EDMUND B. DURHAM, R. H. Bnomw.- 

